Benefits of chemicals scheme outweigh costs

The benefits of a new European chemical testing scheme will far outweigh its costs, according to a report from a leading environmental group.

WWF-UK, the world's largest conservation group has revealed that the UK could save over £50 billion in health expenditure by 2020, if a European Union (EU) chemical scheme is put into practice.

The scheme, Registration, Evaluation and Authorisation of Chemicals (REACH) targets an estimated 30,000 chemicals that have not been tested because they came on the market before 1981.

Under the proposals, manufacturers will have to supply test data on all substances they produce, and substances will have to be registered if sufficient amounts are released to pose a risk to health and the environment.

For substances with "properties of very high concern", manufacturers and importers will have to prove the substance can be used safely or that the risks are outweighed by the benefits.

The EU estimates that the new system will cost the chemical industry up to £22 billion over the next 17 years. But the WWF-UK report argues that the measures will save £180 billion once the wider environmental and health costs are included.

Even without taking environmental benefits into account, the report suggests that the true benefits for Europe in terms of better health and increased productivity could outweigh costs by more than 10 times.

The report, The social costs of chemicals, is available at: www.wwf.org.uk/filelibrary/pdf/socialcostofchemicals.pdf